Tennessee Titans (4-6) at Jacksonville Jaguars (1-9)

Nashville, TN – The Tennessee Titans (4-6), following their Week 11 bye, travel to Jacksonville this week to face the AFC South rival Jacksonville Jaguars (1-9). Kickoff at EverBank Field (capacity 67,246) is scheduled for noon CT on Sunday, November 25th.

This week will mark the 36th all-time meeting between the Jaguars and Titans, with the Titans holding a 20-15 lead in the series. They have split their last six meetings, including a win for each club in 2011. The Jaguars prevailed 16-14 in the season opener in Jacksonville (September 11th), but the Titans bounced back to win 23-17 on Christmas Eve at LP Field.

This week’s game will be televised regionally on CBS, including Nashville affiliate WTVF NewsChannel 5. Spero Dedes will handle play-by-play duties while Steve Beuerlein provides analysis.

The Titans Radio Network, including Nashville flagship 104.5 The Zone, will broadcast the game across the Mid-South with the “Voice of the Titans” Mike Keith, color commentator Frank Wycheck, sideline reporter Cody Allison and gameday host Larry Stone.

The game can be heard local on 1400am WJZM.

Two Weeks Ago

Prior to their bye, the Titans visited the Miami Dolphins and left with a convincing 37-3 victory. The outcome tied for the 12th largest margin of victory in Titans/Oilers history and the biggest since a 40-point win against the St. Louis Rams on December 13th, 2009. It was the Dolphins’ worst home loss since 1968.

In the victory, the Titans forced four turnovers, including an interception by each of their three starting linebackers—Colin McCarthy, Akeem Ayers and Zach Brown. McCarthy returned his interception 49 yards for a touchdown.

Offensively, the Titans did not turn the ball over and were eight-of-17 on third down. They scored touchdowns on three of their four trips inside the red zone, and they maintained possession for more than 33 minutes.

On the ground, Titans running back Chris Johnson rushed for 126 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries (5.5 avg.). The team totaled 177 rushing yards to only 54 by the Dolphins. Quarterback Jake Locker, making his first start in six weeks due to an injured left shoulder, completed nine of 21 passes for 122 yards and a pair of touchdown passes without throwing an interception (93.8 passer rating). He added 36 rushing yards on four carries.

The Jaguars

The Jaguars are in their first season with new ownership and a new coaching staff. In January, the sale of the franchise from Wayne Weaver to automotive parts magnate Shahid Khan was finalized. A week later, Khan and general manager Gene Smith hired former Atlanta Falcons offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey as the club’s new head coach.

Last week, the Jaguars battled the first-place Houston Texans into overtime but ultimately fell short by a final score of 43-37. In the loss, veteran backup Chad Henne came off the bench to replace starting quarterback Blaine Gabbert, who left the game in the first quarter with an elbow injury.

Henne passed for 354 yards and four touchdowns, while 2012 first-round wide receiver Justin Blackmon recorded 236 yards (second-most in franchise history) on seven receptions, including an 81-yard touchdown.

Gabbert, who was selected two spots after Locker in the 2011 NFL Draft, started 14 games as a rookie. This season, he has started all 10 games and has completed 162 of 278 passes for 1,662 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions.

Jaguars Pro Bowl running back Maurice Jones-Drew has not played since suffering a injury on October 21st. Prior to his injury, he rushed for 414 yards on 86 carries (4.8 average).

Titans-Jaguars Series At A Glance

Overall series (regular & postseason): Titans lead 20-15

Regular season series: Titans lead 19-15

Postseason series: Titans lead 1-0

Total points: Titans 696, Jaguars 634

Current streak: One win by Titans

Titans at home vs. Jaguars: 9-8

Titans on the road vs. Jaguars: 11-7 (including 1-0 in playoffs)

Longest winning streak by Titans: 5 (twice, last 2001-03)

Longest losing streak by Titans: 4 (1996-98)

Titans vs. Jaguars at LP Field: 9-4

Last time at LP Field: Jaguars 17 at TITANS 23 (12/24/11)

Titans vs. Jaguars at EverBank Field: 11-7

Last Time at EverBank Field: Titans 14 at JAGUARS 16 (9/11/11)

First time: OILERS 10 at Jaguars 3 (9/3/95)

Mike Munchak’s record vs. Jaguars: 1-1

Mike Mularkey’s record vs. Titans: 0-0

Mike Munchak’s record vs. Mike Mularkey: 0-0

A Titans Victory Would

Give the Titans three consecutive road victories.

Improve the Titans’ all-time record against Jacksonville to 21-15.

Improve Mike Munchak’s career record as a head coach to 14-13.

Give Jake Locker a 3-3 career record as a starting quarterback.

What To Look For This Week

RB Chris Johnson can record his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game, the 33rd 100-yard rushing game of his career and his fifth of 2012.

RB Chris Johnson (862 rushing yards in 2012) needs 138 rushing yards to record his fifth consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season to begin his career. He would be the third rusher in franchise history to reach five 1,000-yard seasons (Eddie George, Earl Campbell) and the second to do so in five consecutive seasons (George).

Titans-Jaguars Series History

The Jaguars are the Titans’ longest-standing division rival. The clubs have met at least twice each year since Jacksonville began play as an expansion franchise in 1995. For the first seven seasons of the rivalry they played in the AFC Central, and for the last 10 years they have been members of the AFC South. The teams have met a total of 35 times, with the Titans holding a 20-15 advantage.

The majority of Titans-Jaguars contests have been highly competitive. Overall, 20 of the 34 Titans-Jaguars meetings have been decided by seven points or fewer.

Last season’s games were no exception. In the 2011 season opener, the Jaguars won 16-14 after Jacksonville safety Dwight Lowery intercepted a Matt Hasselbeck pass with 16 seconds on the clock. The Titans initially fell behind 13-0 before mounting their comeback with two touchdown receptions by Kenny Britt.

In the rematch on December 24th, the Titans held on for a 23-17 victory at LP Field. Hasselbeck passed for 350 yards, including 169 yards and a touchdown to tight end Jared Cook.

The Titans have posted two separate five-game winning streaks against the Jaguars, dating from 1998-00 and 2001-03. Jacksonville’s longest winning streak in the series was a four-game run from 1996-98.

The stakes of the rivalry were never higher than in 1999, when the Titans and Jaguars met three times, including the AFC Championship Game in Jacksonville. Steve McNair rushed for two touchdowns and Derrick Mason returned a kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown as the Titans earned their first Super Bowl berth with a 33-14 win. Tennessee went on to Super Bowl XXXIV and eventuall fell at the hands of the St. Louis Rams, 23-16.

The Jaguars played their first game in franchise history against the then-Houston Oilers on September 3rd, 1995. Playing in Jacksonville, the Oilers won the game by a 10-3 final score.

The Titans also went the entire game without being called for a penalty, marking the first time since 1972 they accomplished the feat.

However, three costly Titans turnovers helped keep the Jaguars in the game until late in the fourth quarter, when the Titans were able to run out the final 3:37 courtesy of a 29-yard catch by Cook and a 13-yard run by Chris Johnson.

Johnson, who started the game despite being limited with an ankle injury, carried the ball 15 times for 56 yards.

The Titans scored the first 10 points of the game in the opening quarter, beginning with a 51-yard field goal by Rob Bironas. Then, on the first play of their next series, Hasselbeck hit Cook for a 55-yard touchdown.

The Jaguars responded with an eight-play, 82-yard march. After consecutive completions by Gabbert of 22 and 21 yards, Jones-Drew scored on a 10-yard run to cut Tennessee’s lead to 10-7.

The Titans then put together their third consecutive scoring drive, going 76 yards on seven plays. Hasselbeck had completions of 24 yards to Cook and 26 yards to Nate Washington. That led to a one-yard touchdown run by Jamie Harper to give the Titans a 10-point lead once again.

A two-minute drive by Jacksonville near the conclusion of the first half got the Jaguars back to within a touchdown. On the 12th play of the series, Josh Scobee made a 39-yard field goal.

Bironas added his second 51-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 35-yarder in the fourth quarter to extend the Titans’ lead to 23-10.

Jacksonville then recorded two consecutive fourth-quarter takeaways in Tennessee territory. On the first, an interception by cornerback Morgan Trent, they failed to capitalize on the opportunity. After advancing the ball to the nine-yard line, safety Michael Griffin intercepted a pass by Gabbert in the end zone on fourth-and-one.

Only minutes later, however, Jaguars safety Dawan Landry recovered a fumble by Harper, and the Jaguars this time converted the turnover to points. It took them 10 plays to move 35 yards, but fullback Greg Jones eventually scored on a one-yard run to make the score 23-17.

With 3:41 to play in regulation and all three timeouts, the Jaguars kicked off to the Titans. But with two big plays from Cook and Johnson, the Titans prevented the Jaguars from getting the ball back again.